OREANDA-NEWS. National austerity measures taken by OECD member governments as a result of the financial crisis have sparked voter anger at the way big international companies shift profits around the world to cut their tax bills.

As a result they have asked the OECD to draft proposals for changes in double-tax agreements, transfer pricing and the exchange of information between tax jurisdictions.

In the last year Britain has become more prominent in the controversy over how much tax multinationals pay and Prime Minister David Cameron called on the European Union to use the impetus of the G8 summit he is hosting in June to organize "radical" international action to crack down on tax evasion.

The OECD is due to deliver its recommendations at the July Group of 20 (G20) meeting. One of the proposals would be that double taxation agreements (DTAs) between countries be amended to avoid the problem whereby neither country taxes the income.

In a recent example it was revealed in a report by Reuters that Google takes advantage of DTAs between Ireland, where the Internet search firm has its European base, and other countries, to shelter billions of dollars each year from tax.

Most of Google's European income flows to Ireland untaxed, thanks to DTAs, and most of this income is then sent to an untaxed Google entity in Bermuda.

Companies can avoid tax by parking intellectual property, such as brands or work processes, with a subsidiary in a tax haven, which then charges affiliates in major markets hefty fees for its use.

Other ideas include a harmonization of the tax treatment of transactions or financial instruments, such as convertible bonds, which in some countries are taxed as bonds and in others treated as shares, allowing a form of tax arbitrage.